Patents are an exclusive right granted by a country to the inventor of the product or procedure relating an innovative step and capable of industrial application. A patent is a grant of safeguard for an invention. A patent is a product or process that provides an innovative way of doing something, or that delivers new technical solution to a problem.

Any invention can be patented. However it should be, Novel| Non-Obvious| Inventive Step| Industrial Application.

Trade marks have been defined as any exclusive sign that recognizes certain goods or services produced or provided by an individual or a company. A trademark is a structure helps customers to classify and purchase a product or service based on whether its definite characteristics and quality as specified by its exclusive trademark to fulfill their needs. Trademarks may be one or a combination of words, letters and numerals. They may consist of drawings, symbols or three dimensional signs, such as the shape and packaging of goods.

Trademark protection ensures that the owners of marks have the exclusive right to use them to identify goods or services, or to authorize others to use them in return for payment.

Copyright is one of the key branches of IP law which protects the expression of ideas. For a work to gain copyright, it has to be original and should be expressed in a material form. Copyright is thus effective upon the creation of the work.

Types of copyright works are broadly categorized into,

• Original literacy, Dramatic, artistic and musical work
• Sound recordings, films or broadcasts
• The typographical arrangement of published editions

Works covered by copyright include, but are not limited to: novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspapers, advertisements, computer programs, databases, films, musical compositions, choreography, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculpture, architecture, maps and technical drawings.

An industrial design refers to the ornamental or aesthetic aspects of an article. A design may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.

Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of industrial products and handicrafts: from technical and medical instruments to watches, jewelry and other luxury items; from housewares and electrical appliances to vehicles and architectural structures; from textile designs to leisure goods.

To be protected under most national laws, an industrial design must be new or original and nonfunctional. This means that an industrial design is primarily of an aesthetic nature, and any technical features of the article to which it is applied are not protected by the design registration.

Semiconductor material or an insulating material or inside the semiconductor material and designed to perform an electronic circuitry function. Layout design means a layout of transistors and other circuitry elements and includes lead wires connecting such elements and expressed in any manner in semiconductor integrated circuit. Semiconductor intellectual property (IP) blocks, also known as IP cores, are reusable design components that are used to build advanced integrated circuits (ICs). It is typically impossible to create new IC designs without pre-designed IP blocks as a starting point. These design components are called intellectual property blocks because they are traded as rights to use and copy the design.

A geographical indication is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation due to that place of origin. Most commonly, a geographical indication consists of the name of the place of origin of the goods. Agricultural products typically have qualities that derive from their place of production and are influenced by specific local geographical factors, such as climate and soil. Whether a sign functions as a geographical indication is a matter of national law and consumer perception. Geographical indications maybe used for a wide variety of agricultural products.